Wonk Night is back.
Our first event of 2016 will trade the downtown office lobby of Lancaster Engineering (our wonderful Wonk Night sponsors) for a location a bit further east: SE Division and 82nd to be exact.
The theme of the night is “To 82nd, and Beyond!” (which I like to say in my Buzz Lightyear voice.) Our mission for the evening is to inform and inspire each other about all the big, small, scary and exciting things happening in this part of Portland. And there’s a lot to talk about.
82nd Avenue is…
— a Portland Bureau of Transportaiton High Crash Corridor.
— a place where neighborhood activists are working with state legislators to make transportation improvements.
— the likely north-south route for buses (and maybe bikes?) in Metro’s upcoming major investment via the Powell-Division Transit project.
— part of the exciting Jade District, a project of the Asian Pacific American Netork of Oregon (APANO).
— just one of many bustling, high-speed streets in east Portland that needs more attention from transportation planners (both professional and of the citizen activist variety).
— currently the focus of an Oregon Department of Transportation project looking to find the best transportation investments between northeast Portland and Clackamas County.
— an amazing street full of great food and people that unfortunately just so happens to be dominated by fast traffic and high-stress conditions for all road users.
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And that’s just a start. As Portland’s inner neighborhood’s have become less affordable, many people are moving further east. We want to help you understand this part of Portland better, empower you to be a part of how it evolves, and introduce you to the people who live, work, and ride there.
As per usual, this will be an informal event where everyone has a chance to share their input and add to the conversation. We’ll invite elected officials, agency staffers, policy makers, and neighborhood advocates to keep things interesting (and if you’re reading this, consider it an invitation. We love surprise guests! Hi Nancy!). You can expect free snacks and drinks (both all ages and adult varieties) along with the stimulating discussions you’ve come to expect at our events. To get a better idea of what Wonk Night looks like, peruse our photos and recaps of past events.
Here are the details:
- Wonk Night: 82nd and Beyond!
Monday, February 22nd
6-9:00 pm at Jade/APANO Multicultural Space (8114 SE Division)
Free
Snacks and drinks provided by Whole Foods, Widmer Bros. and Hopworks Urban Brewery
Hope to see you there. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
For homework you might like to take another look at our East Portland Week coverage from summer 2014.
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org
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I believe this is the same date and time as Trimet’s next Transit on Tap which just so happens to be on Bikes + Transit
yes it is! Sorry about that. As it is I rescheduled the event because our intial date, the 18th, conflicted with the Better Block PDX event! hopefully there are enough wonks to go around.
>>an amazing street full of great food and people that unfortunately just so happens to be dominated by fast traffic and high-stress conditions for all road users.
go out and drive it from CTC to The Airport and then see if you would like to revise that “fast traffic” descriptor.
Streets like 82nd have two lives.
During peak hours, they are slow, congested and frustrating to drive on. People make questionable decisions in order to try and make a light or pass a bus because they don’t want to be there any longer than they have to.
And outside of peak hours, the road is overbuilt encourages dangerous speeds. 60 ft of asphalt and few stop lights make an appealing race track for some.
In. Anyone want to do a pre-wonk dinner on 82nd?